CHAPTEK XXVI. 



ITALIAN HONEY BEE. 



BEES bearing the above name have been imported 

 into the United States from Europe within the last 

 two years. They are supposed to be the same vari- 

 ety described by Aristotle as " small and round in 

 size and shape, and variegated in color." He desig- 

 nates this variety as being the best of the three then 

 known. 



Virgil describes two kinds as flourishing in his 

 time, the better of which he describes " as spotted, 

 or variegated, and of a beautiful golden color." 



Plafe XLV, figs. 74, 75, and 76, represent the 

 queen, drone, and worker of the Italian bee, colored 

 to life f'fig. 77, the ovary of a queen. 



It will be seen, on comparing them with the com- 

 mon bee, (plate i) that color is the only distinguish- 

 ing feature between the two varieties. 



Busch describes the Italian bee as follows : " The 

 workers are smooth and glossy, and the color of their 

 abdominal rings is a medium between the pale yellow 

 of straw and the deeper yellow of ochre. These rings 

 have a narrow, black edge.or border, so that the yel- 



